Politics Chat

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: The Wall Street Journal reported that Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Greece, asked Trump loyalist Eric Deters to pay off 100,000 dollars of her American Express bill before her Senate hearing. Days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Project Meridian, Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey’s company received a 2.9 billion dollar contract. Hegseth said the execution of former Army major Nidal Hasan, scheduled for December 3, would be public, and the plan drew bipartisan backlash. Trump said after a call with Vladimir Putin that Russia will supply 300,000 tons of diesel globally. Trump posted that Minnesota is being taken over by Somali immigrants. CNN reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders verbally told agents to raise arrests from 1,000 to 3,000 people a day. An ICE agent shot and wounded a Dominican man in New York City with a child in the car. A Pew Research Center poll found 68 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of the presidency.
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At a Nebraska rally, Trump said of Iran that if it had a nuclear weapon, let them take out Los Angeles or San Diego, calling it a small price to pay, and the crowd cheered. The White House later said he had been misconstrued. The United States has not invited the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to observe its elections this year, the first time since 2002, leaving only Russia and Belarus among its 57 members also declining observers. Colorado election denier Tina Peters, pardoned by the state's governor under pressure from Trump, reportedly met with Trump at the White House and is pushing a claim that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick can seize voting machines over foreign made parts. A United Nations report found U.S. strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific may amount to war crimes. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Project Meridian, overseen by Newt Gingrich, defense contractor founder Palmer Luckey, and Elon Musk.
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In today’s Politics Chat: Special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Chuck Grassley. Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt accused Smith of perjury over a claimed February 2024 trip to Atlanta. The claim relied on text messages mentioning a Hawkeyes game, which turned out to reference an Iowa basketball game Smith attended in Maryland, not an Atlanta Hawks game. Rising diesel prices are increasingly driving rural, pro-Trump voters away from him. Trump is considering banning diesel exports ahead of the midterms, though economists say that would raise prices rather than lower them. Trump signed a voluntary AI safety accord with industry leaders at the White House. Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought said he is withholding funds Congress had already appropriated. Democratic ads are targeting Kansas Senator Roger Marshall over medical debt collection and Ohio Senator John Husted, who was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine, over comments about SNAP recipients.
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A federal judge blocked the State Department's Office of Remigration from sending deportees to third countries with no ties to them, a program that has cost more than 400 million taxpayer dollars. Another federal judge ruled Homeland Security cannot keep holding detainees in abysmal conditions at a facility in New York. A judge also blocked Trump's ban on White House press access for Politico, CNN, and MSNBC for 14 days, and Secret Service let the reporters back onto the campus that afternoon. At the United Nations, Iranian and Cuban delegates walked out during Trump's remarks, and many delegates walked out when Benjamin Netanyahu spoke. Chinese President Xi Jinping again invoked the Thucydides Trap to Trump, a reference to a declining power confronting a rising one. Health and Human Services proposed stripping federal regulations from Head Start, including a new English-only requirement. ProPublica corrected false claims Senator Susan Collins made about its reporting on an alleged pay-to-play scheme tied to a Navy contractor's campaign donations.
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The White House revoked press credentials for CNN, Politico, and MS NOW after aide Natalie Harp reportedly showed Trump stories that angered him. In a UN speech, Trump suggested he might annihilate Iran and declared the United States would dominate the Western Hemisphere. Trump also attacked the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Vladimir Putin. The administration is moving to remove more than a million people from the Affordable Care Act, alleging fraud. In Texas, a Venezuelan man legally in the country was shot in the back by immigration agents and later discharged from the hospital with the bullet still in him as officials sought his deportation. ProPublica reported that the FBI had evidence Senator Susan Collins participated in a pay-to-play scheme, and that the investigation was shut down after Trump took office. Trump's approval rating has fallen below 30 percent, with his rating on the economy in the 20s. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker publicly warned Trump that the state has not forgotten last year's immigration raids and intends to pursue accountability.
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